Chapter 45 - The Power Of Special Ammo (2/2)

[…I couldn’t answer back there whether I properly thought about the consequences before picking a fight or did I pick a fight knowing that it might turn into a shootout…]

She just saw one of the possible consequences not too long ago when s.h.i.+ori and Akira were so close on trying to kill each other. If Mimata’s group did not laugh it off when she picked a fight with them, something similar or maybe even worse would have happened.

[He wouldn’t want to employ someone who picks needless fights even if it’s for free, huh… Well, that’s to be expected though.]

Reina calmly looked back to what she did until now. This was not the first time she picked a fight against someone else. There must have been so many instances in the past where she crossed through dangerous bridges, she might have trod all the way here through landmines without realizing it.

Nothing went horribly wrong up until now, but it was not like everything went smoothly either. There were cases where she mistakenly crossed the limit when she got into an argument with someone else just to force her opinion on that person and stepped on each other’s feet, although no one wanted for that to happen.

Reina thought that s.h.i.+ori must have done all the work to make sure that she did not mistakenly step on any landmines. But today, s.h.i.+ori herself almost stepped on one. Although they were able to barely avoid it, Reina imagined what would have happened if s.h.i.+ori had completely stepped on that landmine. Just thinking of that possibility made her dejected again.

s.h.i.+ori noticed Reina expression and gently said to her.

“…Milady, please don’t let it bother you too much. It’s important to be able to let it go and move on. Moreover, that was because I made a mistake of provoking Akira-sama. Let’s use the experience that we got today to be more careful next time.”

Reina thought that s.h.i.+ori provoked Akira because she was angry on Reina’s place, she felt both grateful and apologetic for it.

“…Now that I think about it, I haven’t properly said my thanks to you lately. I’m sorry that I always put you in trouble and thank you very much for always helping me out. I’m sure I’ll be giving you more trouble in the future, so, is it okay if I keep relying on you?”

“…O-of course! Just leave it to me!”

s.h.i.+ori was so moved and surprised when Reina said that, but she quickly pulled herself together with willpower and was somehow able to hold back her tears. She understood well that she was in the middle of a battlefield, and there was no way she would be able to perform well in a battle if she did not pull herself together.

“Thank you, s.h.i.+ori. I’ll be in your care.”

Looking at Reina who got cheered up, s.h.i.+ori tried her best to make a smile to let Reina feel at ease.

Akira was watching his surroundings with his information-gathering device. While doing so, he was also watching Reina and s.h.i.+ori who were behind him. He knew that he had a big fight with them not too long ago, so he was watching them in case they suddenly shoot him from behind.

“…What are they doing?”

As Akira mumbled that question with a puzzled face, Alpha just smiled and answered.

“I think they’re deepening their friends.h.i.+p.”

“I wasn’t asking about that… Well, never mind…”

Akira quickly lost interest in what was transpiring behind him, thinking that it did not matter what they were doing so long as it would not cause him any trouble.

Alpha kept her smile as always while watching Akira closely. She was always observing, watching and trying to understand the main principles behind his actions.

Her ideal beautiful body generated by advance calculation was giving a calculated perfect smile, but her smile did not reflect the meaning behind it.

That big hole looked perfectly quiet from the outside, but Akira, who was keeping his eyes on it, suddenly looked grim. He quickly stood up and kicked the rucksack beside him, scattering the ammo that was inside it onto the ground. He then pointed his CWH anti-material rifle into that hole.

Reina and s.h.i.+ori who noticed that quickly put their guards up and came closer to Akira. They then glanced towards the hole expecting to find some monsters, but they could not see any monsters.

Reina was puzzled as she checked her information-gathering device and did not find any signals that indicated monsters presence either. So she turned to Akira and asked him.

“…Did your device find something?”

“I’ll take care of this side, you girls take care of the other side.”

Akira already finished his preparation to shoot, he already had his finger ready on the trigger.

“Alpha, how many?”

“I picked 124 signals within my scanning range and I’m still counting. The swarm that attacked defensive point number 15 might be just scouts.”

“…Ughh, well, what can I say… I always get myself tangled in this kind of situation.”

Akira looked slightly exasperated, while Alpha just retained her smiled.

“Well, I guess this is to be expected for your level of luck. It’s just like the usual, so let’s calm down and just deal with it like always.”

Akira smiled bitterly.

“You’re right. Well then, I’ll be counting on your support to win against my bad luck today. Since I spent all of my lifetime worth of luck to meet you, I expect to get good support from that, okay?”

“Just leave it to me.”

Alpha stood beside Akira and smiled confidently.

Rather than watching her surroundings, s.h.i.+ori paid more attention to Akira who was aiming into the hole as if he had a clear target. She readied her rifle, loaded it with a flare bullet that could be used to increase the accuracy of the information-gathering device, and pointed her rifle into the hole. She then shot a few flares with the same interval between each shot into the hole. The flare bullets shone brightly, it scattered off the darkness that filled the hole and revealed the earthen tunnel and the human-made floor under them. But there was no sign of enemy at all. Even after she rechecked her information-gathering device, she still could not find any enemy signals.

“…Akira-sama, you might have mistaken something.”

Akira ignored s.h.i.+ori’s question. s.h.i.+ori and Reina started getting more suspicious of him.

But suddenly, darkness crept in again into the illuminated hole, making it impossible to see anything inside. The flare that was the furthest away suddenly dimmed and stopped s.h.i.+ning. The flare bullets were made so that they would at least keep s.h.i.+ning for about 15 minutes, so it was obviously too fast for the flare to die out naturally. Reina and s.h.i.+ori also noticed the anomaly, but then, the flares inside the hole suddenly died one by one until the hole was filled with total darkness again.

Seeing what was happening, Reina and s.h.i.+ori quickly got themselves ready for a fight. Sounds echoed from deep inside the hole as if a lot of big living things were coming closer towards them. The rumble grew louder and louder. Multiple big objects that blocked the light charged towards Akira. They did not even need to check their information-gathering device to know what it was.

Alpha kept her smiled as she counted down.

“They’re coming… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1.”

At the same time, all the light from the rest of the flares suddenly died out.

“Zero.”

Akira pulled the trigger of his CWH anti-material rifle. Muzzle-flash flashed from his rifle, the light from that flash temporarily illuminated and revealed what was inside the hole. Akira and others caught a glance of a swarm of Yarata scorpions gus.h.i.+ng out from the hole.

The bullet flew out from Akira’s rifle and hit the scorpion that was leading the swarm, it blasted that scorpion to pieces thanks to the bullet’s overwhelming destructive power. It even pierced through that scorpion and turned other scorpions near it into minced meat. Akira was able to literally destroy a dozen scorpions with just one shot.

It was because Akira was using specially designated ammo for CWH anti-material rifle. Normally, people would not use such a bullet to hunt Yarata scorpions since it was too powerful and too expensive for that. But Akira did not hesitate to use this ammo. Of course, it was also because the requester paid for his ammo, but more than that, he was not in a situation where he could hesitate using that bullet.

“Whoah, amazing!! As expected of designated ammo! No wonder they’re so expensive!!”

“It’s also great that it has a long effective range. Let’s defeat as many scorpions as we can before they can get close.”

“Roger that.”

Akira’s body s.h.i.+fted backwards every time he pulled the trigger. The kickback from the designated ammo was actually relatively small considering its firepower, it was thanks to its complex design made using advanced technologies. But even so, it had enough kickback to blow one’s body all the way back to the wall. Akira was only able to maintain his shooting stance thanks to his augmented suit and Alpha’s support.

All the scorpions that were blasted to pieces by that shot looked like paper sheets scattered by the wind. Akira was amazed by that scene, but he did not think even for a bit that it was because of his skill as he kept shooting while making a grim face.

The Yarata scorpions just ignored the pieces of their dead brethren that showered down at them as they continued marching toward Akira. They trampled on the corpses of their dead friends, and the same thing also happened to the scorpions that were badly wounded and could not move. There was no sign that they were slowing down at all.

“…But still, it doesn’t seem like they’re withdrawing back at all, don’t they feel fear or something? They’re biological monsters, right?”

“Maybe they don’t.”

“But the scorpions that attacked the defensive point 15 withdrew, right?”

“That is… Maybe they returned back to report their enemies’ locations and firepower to the rest of the swarm. I don’t think they withdrew out of fear. They might have been just scouts after all.”

“… And so this is the main swarm?”

“Its possibility is not zero.”

“If it’s really the main swarm, there should be a limit on how bad my luck can be, you know!!”

“Stop the silly talk and get back to shooting, more of them are coming.”

“Dammit!!!”

Akira kept on shooting at the scorpions desperately. Thanks to his high ground and specially designated ammo, he was one-sidedly laying waste on the scorpions that were gus.h.i.+ng out from the hole. When he ran out of ammo and reloaded a new magazine, the swarm would quickly close their distance, so he would immediately start shooting again in panic and push them back until he ran out of ammo again. This cycle continued as he held the swarm back all by himself.

Reina and s.h.i.+ori readied their gun and were watching the other angles just like Akira told them to, they were ready in case they were ambushed by more monsters from the hallway. Of course, they would jump to help if Akira requested their help. But he did not request for any a.s.sistance. Although he looked a bit desperate, he was able to properly hold off the scorpions all by himself.

Reina and s.h.i.+ori were taken aback by Akira who was desperately holding back the scorpions on his own. This scene was the very proof that his skills and his battle record were genuine.

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